Championship Sections

K-12
Adam Draheim defeated three players who outrated him, including an Expert (rated 2049) in the
final round en route to an 11th Place finish in the State! He earned a trophy for Best Under 1800.

K-8
Dylan Gould won the Best Under 1500 trophy after beating a 1553-rated player. Alex Tsatryan
teamed with Dylan to earn a 3rd Place Club Team award for CYCL. Thanks guys!

K-6
Andrew Sung and Andrew Deedon teamed up to earn State K-6 School Champions for Trinity
Classical Academy. Andrew S beat a B player (rated 1607) and Andrew D defeated players in
the 1300’s and 1500’s despite being the lowest-rated player in the section.
Eric Luo beat two players rated above him and gained 35 rating points.

K-3
Shreyas Sakharkar, Landon Hu, and Lizzy Pope snagged the K-3 State School Team title for
Pico Canyon Elementary. Shreyas and Landon each had stellar performances (Shreyas beat
three players rated over 1000 on his way to earning the Best Under 1000 prize while Landon
took out a 1500 and 1300) but Lizzy had the best story!

In the final round, Lizzy faced an opponent who outrated her by over 400 points. After an epic
struggle, Lizzy found herself in an endgame in which both players had only a Queen and King.
Lizzy raised her hand and explained to the tournament director (an International Arbiter – the
highest level a director can be) that she was claiming a draw because the situation on the board
was a forced draw. Lizzy had learned well in class, but the arbiter could not recall if Queen &
King vs Queen & King was an official forced draw according to the rule book and he asked her
to play on. When Coach Jay heard about this, he went to grab the rule book. By the time he
returned with the page dog-eared, Lizzy had secured her draw. Way to go Lizzy!

Elbert Zeng and Nikhilesh Kalyaranaman took the 2nd Place School Team award for West Creek
Academy.

K-1
Tamerlan Goglichidze and Adam Kharaev teamed up to win the State K-1 School Team
Championship for Tesoro del Valle Elementary! An unrated player, Tamerlan beat players rated
in the 300’s and 400’s among his 3 wins. Adam beat a player rated over 500 (whose only other
loss was to the champion).

Kindergarten twins Henry and Miranda Bowling proudly brought a 3rd Place School Team trophy
to West Creek Academy!

CYCL was the 4th Place Club Team (just out of trophy range) thanks to the valiant efforts of
Lincoln Pope and Advait Krishnamoorthy

Junior Varsity Sections

K-12 Under 1200
Some of Coach Jay’s most veteran students competed in this top JV division. In the end,
Stephen De Vita won his final 6 games after a 2-2 start to earn 2nd Place! Mitali Sakharkar
pushed her rating up to 1135 with an impressive 6.5 points. Leo Ouyang, Tobin Thannickal, Joe
Brennan, Ben Hartley, and Ross Pope were on the CYCL team that earned a 2nd Place Club
Team award.

K-8 Under 1000
Shaun Thomas, Ethan Bowling, and Alexander Lapsley from West Creek Academy earned the
3rd Place School Team trophy. Shaun gained over 100 rating points!

Natasha & Dmitri Mertens nearly brought their Montessori school its first team trophy, but had to
settle for 4th Place team. Natasha finished just a half-point ahead of her brother (5.5 compared
to 5.0).

K-6 Under 750
Dylan Helms snagged 6.5 points in this huge division (141 players) which was good enough for
22nd Place. His West Creek Academy teammate, Tiffany Liu, competing in her first USCF event
surprised everyone by winning 6 games and taking home the 1st Place Unrated award. Their
efforts, combined with those of Elijah Lim, Justin Almeida, Marcus Salvador, JJ Pohlot, Austin
Diaz, and Isabelle Almeida translated into a 3rd Place School Team award.

The 2nd Place School Team went to Pico Canyon Elementary (on tie-breaks over West Creek)
which was led by Lucas Venditti (6 points), Shane Aukamp (5.5 points and a 4th Place Unrated
trophy), Jake Vojtech, Brody Glass, Angelique Guan, Shazaib Lalani, and Timothy Kim.

CYCL’s Club Team finished just a single point behind 3rd Place. Mahesh Arunachalam and Ishita
Juluru (6.0 and 5.5, respectively) had strong tournaments. Splitting wins and losses evenly (5
out of 10) were Hardhik Ram, Kevin Justin, and Laura Brennan (who raised her rating 168
points!). Collin Tang and Samuel Arreaza were right behind with 4.5.

K-3 Under 400
Two of CYCL’s biggest surprise performances came from Micah Margolin (7.5 out of 10) and
Gavin Holmes (7.0). Micah, in his first USCF tournament could be slowed down only by Gavin
(who took 1.5 out of 2 from him) on his way to 9th Place (he took a Round 2 bye also). Gavin’s
final round opponent won the 100-player section with 8.5, and Gavin salvaged a draw to take
11th overall. Prithvi Prasad (7.0) was 17th, and Kendrick Lee’s 6.5 was good enough for 23rd
Place.

Srinidhi Srinivasasubbu (5.5) and Michael Shubert (5.0) rounded out the CYCL team with Micah
and Prithvi en route to bringing a 3rd Place Club Team award back to CYCL!

Vaneeza Lalani’s 5-5 score earned her a 2nd Under 200 trophy (we just realized this) and, along
with Dylan Stier, Sanjay Reddy, and Nathan Kim, a 2nd Place School Team trophy for Pico
Canyon.

By virtue of two strong performances (Gavin and Anthony Lapsley), West Creek’s 2-man team
earned 4th Place School Team.

]]>http://cycl.org/2015/03/cycl-2015-superstates-report/feed/0Please Read: New Credit Card Payment Process for CYCLhttp://cycl.org/2014/08/please-read-new-credit-card-payment-process-for-cycl/
http://cycl.org/2014/08/please-read-new-credit-card-payment-process-for-cycl/#commentsSat, 16 Aug 2014 01:38:05 +0000http://cycl.org/?p=1369Continue reading →]]>Dear CYCL Families,
As you may know, we have recently switched credit card processing companies due to rate hikes. After a short transition period, we now have our system up and running again.
To Pay for Classes with a Credit Card, please follow these short steps.
1. Follow the attached link to our Intuit payment site.
2. For Invoice/Reference#: Please put your child’s LAST NAME and school (EX: Smith/School)
3. For Payment Amount: Insert the amount for your child(s) class. Please double check the amount you insert BEFORE you continue.
4. Fill out the credit card information below and submit.

Registration for CYCL Quads has opened for this Saturday May 31st. As usual, you can play morning and/or afternoon! Please register by going to our Tournaments page and use the registration boxlocated on the left of the page.

Also please try to register before 9 PM on Friday night so we can place players into their appropriate quad levels!

Online registration is currently being set up through the Parent Online Portal and is scheduled to be up by Friday evening. (If your child has ever taken a class with CYCL, you most likely already have a portal. To access, use your email and password. In the event you can not reset your password, please email for help resetting.)

This Saturday, April 19,2014, there is a tournament in Glendale. If you have previous commitments at either the beginning of the day or end of the day, you can opt to take a bye (free 1/2 point) for any round that your child will miss. There are multiple sections from which to choose:

K-6 Unrated – only players below 7th grade that are unrated can play in this section

K-5 U500 – 5th grade and lower PLUS you have to be rated under 500

K-8 U900

K-12 Open – Above 8th grade or above 899? This section is for you!

I will be there to review games in between rounds, so it is an excellent opportunity to improve.

To register, please send me an email with your child’s name, then pay $25 (cash or check payable to AAA Chess Club) to me before or on Saturday.

Here is the link with the details.The shaded area to the right has the important information.

Super States 2014 is finally here! We are ready to have a great event and looking forward to see you all.

Here are a couple things to read over before the event:

Please check the Advanced Entries list to confirm that your registration is correct. Check the name, grade, school/team, and most importantly, section. Also, if you requested a bye, it should show up. If there is a mistake, please email Coach Jay so we can get it fixed.

With over 500 young players converging on the Hyatt, we will need your help! If you have a few hours either on Saturday, March 15th or Sunday,March 16th, please volunteer for a shift or two. You don’t have to know how to play chess, but Player’s Assistants who do know how, will be used a little more. To sign up, please click here

]]>http://cycl.org/2013/03/super-states-2013-individual-standings/feed/0Super States 2013 Team Standingshttp://cycl.org/2013/03/super-states-2013-team-standings/
http://cycl.org/2013/03/super-states-2013-team-standings/#commentsFri, 08 Mar 2013 23:29:56 +0000http://cycl.org/?p=1036Continue reading →]]>Below is a list of the final School Team and Club Team standings for Super States 2013:

Super States 2013: K-1 Sections

K-1 Under 200 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Pico Canyon Elementary

12

1

Beyond Chess

17.5

2

The Chandler School

7

2

ASYC

11

3

Meadows Elementary

6.5

3

American Chess Academy

5.5

4

Coalinga

5.5

California Youth Chess League

5.5

5

West Creek Academy

3

5

Think Chess 4 Kids

4.5

K-1 Championship Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Coalinga

5

1

Beyond Chess

18

2

Cimarron Elementary

3.5

2

Chess Palace

14

3

West L.A.

5

Super States 2013: K-3 Sections

K-3 Under 300 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

The Chandler School

16

1

Beyond Chess

16.5

2

West Creek Academy

13.5

2

American Chess Academy

14.5

3

St. Jeanne

11.5

3

California Youth Chess League

13.5

4

Victor

5

4

ASYC

11

5

Thousand Oaks Chinese School

7.5

K-3 Under 600 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Thorner Elementary

22

1

Beyond Chess

33.5

2

Independence Elementary

11.5

2

American Chess Academy

24

3

California Youth Chess League

22

4

Chess Palace

16.5

5

AAA

13.5

K-3 Championship Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Coalinga

6.5

1

Beyond Chess

15

2

Trinity Classical Academy

6

2

American Chess Academy

11.5

3

Chess Palace

11

4

STAR Education

8

Super States 2013: K-6 Sections

K-6 Under 500 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

The Chandler School

17.5

1

Beyond Chess

16

2

Victor

11

2

American Chess Academy

14

3

West Creek Academy

9

3

ASYC

13.5

4

Bessie Owens Elementary

8.5

4

California Youth Chess League

12

5

Coalinga

6

Thousand Oaks Chinese School

12

6

Palm Crest

3.5

6

Think Chess 4 Kids

9

7

Centennial Elementary

3.5

Academic Chess

7

K-6 Under 800 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Trinity Classical Academy

18.5

1

Beyond Chess

37.5

2

West Creek Academy

18

2

ASYC

24

3

Bessie Owens Elementary

16.5

3

California Youth Chess League

23.5

4

Thorner Elementary

9

4

American Chess Academy

17

5

American Elementary School

7.5

5

Mountain Lake Chess Camp

13.5

6

Chess Palace

13.5

7

Chess Magicians

12.5

K-6 Championship Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Cimarron Elementary

7.5

1

Beyond Chess

17

2

American Chess Academy

15

3

California Youth Chess League

10.5

4

Chess Palace

7.5

5

Beverly Hills Chess Club

7.5

6

ASYC

6

Super States 2013: K-8 Sections

K-8 Under 800 Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Rosedale Middle School

11

1

ASYC

22

2

Trinity Classical Academy

11

2

Beyond Chess

19.5

3

California Youth Chess League

18

4

West L.A.

14

K-8 Championship Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Coalinga Middle School

11

1

Beyond Chess

14.5

2

Venado Middle School

9

2

American Chess Academy

9

3

California Youth Chess League

5

Super States 2013: K-12 Sections

K-12 Under 1200 Team Standings

Club Team

Points

1

Beyond Chess

32

2

American Chess Academy

26.5

3

California Youth Chess League

25

4

Think Chess 4 Kids

11

5

ASYC

7

K-12 Championship Team Standings

School Team

Points

Club Team

Points

1

Temple City High School

10.5

1

American Chess Academy

15

2

San Marino High School

7.5

2

Conejo Valley Chess Club

14.5

3

Hart High School

4

3

All Asian Chess Dudes

12

]]>http://cycl.org/2013/03/super-states-2013-team-standings/feed/0Sean’s Fund Dinnerhttp://cycl.org/2013/02/seans-fund-dinner/
http://cycl.org/2013/02/seans-fund-dinner/#commentsTue, 12 Feb 2013 18:13:13 +0000http://cycl.org/?p=1014Continue reading →]]>“Chocolate Extravanganza” was the theme of the 6th Annual Sean’s Fund Dinner and Silent Auction. Every place setting had a colorfully decorated bag of Hershey’s Kisses and most auction items were paired with chocolate from as close as Trader Joe’s and as far away as Switzerland! Some of the more attention-grabbing items in the auction included Fred Carrillo’s artistic chess set with table, new Salomon skiis, and a foursome at Robinson Ranch golf course (our host). Besides great music from Drop Zone and a flourless chocolate cake demonstration from Judy Gilbert of Culinary Wonders, the highlight of the evening was probably the live auction for a Futurama print with a personalized autograph to come from the show’s creative genius Matt Groenig.

Sean’s Fund would like to thank our donors, volunteers, and wonderful guests who really got in the giving spirit. The dinner raised over $12,000 to help support the wonderful activities supported by Sean’s Fund, including financial aid for classes, camps and tournamnents, funds to compile chess-themed backpacks for kids at LA area hospitals the Painted Turtle Camp, and special events like the Sean Reader Master-Junior Simul.

The 2012 Sean Reader Master-Junior Simul boasted three International Masters and a Grandmaster, but their opponents had some pretty impressive credentials as well! This unique invitation-only opportunity brings together experienced titled players and Southern California’s most promising young players in a fun and very entertaining yet competitive event.